Grain-shoveling device



(N0 Modl.) V -2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

A. G. MATHER. GRAD! SHOVELING DEVICE.

No. 453,413. Patented June-Z, 1891.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. G. MATHER. GRAIN SHOVELING DEVIGE.

No. 453,413. Patented June 2,1891.

A I IIIIII 'IIIIII III UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALLAN G. MATHER, OF MILWVAUKEE, XVISCONSI N.

G RAlN-SHOVELING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,413, dated June 2, 1891. Application filed December 20, 1890. Serial No. 375,296. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALLAN G; MATHER, of

Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grain-Shoveling Devices, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

. The object of my invention is to provide a device especially adapted for shoveling grain from cars where the grain is loaded in bulk in the car and is to be moved to the door of the car and dumped into a hopper. The device is also adapted for moving grain, coal, or other articles lying in a mass or heap from one part of a store-house to another part, and also may be used for moving cars on their track for a short distance alongside of the store-house, or from one locality to another in the vicinity of the operative mechanism.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan in outline of a fragment of a store-house, showing portions of the operative mechanism of my device located therein, and cars alongside the store house with shovels illustrating the method of using the device for unloading one or more cars at the same time. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a fragment of a store-house with a hopper, and a car shown in section with my shovel therewith, illustrating the position of the car and store-house and the method of using my device. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the greater part of the operative mechanism of my improved device. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the same mechanism shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of a clutch forming a part of my device. Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section of the clutch, taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an elevation of one side of the clutch. Fig. 8 is a detail in elevation of a stop used in my device to receive the thrust of a wedge in the clutch.

The principal operative parts of my devlce are conveniently located in a store-house alongside a railway-track, and the mechanism maybe located above or beneath the floor of the store-house either parallel to the railway-track or at an angle thereto.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the endless belt or pulleys.

cable F, which is a part of my mechanism, as being located in a store-houseA and parallel to the track on which the cars B B are standing. Hoppers O 0, located at the side of the store-house, project therefrom to beneath the sides of the cars and are adapted to receive the grain therefrom and by gravity convey it into the lower part of the store-house. Two large pulleys D D, located at a distance apart, are journaled on a supporting-frame E, and an endless belt or cable F runs on the two For adjusting the tension of the cable F rods G G are fixed at one end in the pillow-blocks H H of the pulley D, which pillow-blocks are movable endwise on the frame E, and the rods G G pass movably through brackets I I, rigid on the frame, and are provided with hand-wheel nuts K K, turning by screw-threads on the rods G G against the brackets I, whereby the pillow-blocks may be moved along the frame and the tension of the cable F adjusted.

A driving-shaft L, having a band-wheel M, is journaled eccentrically in cylindrical blocks or cams N N, which are rotatable in pillowblocks 0 O, fixed on the frame E. The cam journal-blocks N N are provided with rigid radially-extending handles P P, Which are united at their outer ends, and by tilting these handles the friction-wheel R, fixed on the driving-shaft L, is thrown into and out of,

contact with pulley D, whereby motion is communicated from the driving-shaft to the pulley or is out off therefrom.

A clutch S, supported and traveling with or on the cable F, is provided with a draft-rope '1, attached at one end to a shovel U and at the other end to the sheave-pin S", or when the sheave S is used is passed around the sheave and is attached to the building or some fixed support, as shown in Fig. 3. The sheave S is used only when the block S is necessarily limited to the extent of its travel on the cable F to a less distance than the shovel is required to be moved. In other cases it is preferable to remove the sheave S from the clutch and secure the rope T directly to the clutch by tying it about the sheave-pin S. When the cable F runs in a direction other than one that is substantially continuous with the line of movement of the shovel,

the rope T is carried around a sheave V and may be further guided by carrying it over another sheave, as V The clutchShas acase conveniently formed of side plates B B, located at a little distance apart and secured together by bolts, an interposed fixed bearing and catch iron or wedge G,'a bearing-block D, pivoted on a cam-sleeve pin E, fixed on the bolt F, passing eccentrically through the sleeve-pin and adjustably through the plates B B, the movable wedge G, and the pin 11, preferably provided with an anti-friction sleeve. The bearing-block D is provided with a shallow groove longitudinally in its upper edge, in which the cable F is partially received. The block is adjusted toward and from the cable by the limited rotation of the bolt F, carrying therewith the cam-pin E, whereby the bearing-block D is raised or lowered in the case toward or from the cable F. The wedge G is provided with a groove in its lower edge adapted to partly receive the cable F therein and is movable in the case opposite the bearing-block D ,bein g adapted with the bearingblock to grip the cable and secure the clutch temporarily thereto. The wedge G is adapted to be caught frietionally by the cable F, mov ing through the clutch toward the left in Fig. 3, and to be carried into the position shown in Fig. 5, in which the upper inclined edge of the wedge bears against the iron C and the pin 11, forcing the wedge against the cable gripping it between it and the bearing-block D, whereby the clutch S is locked to and carried with the moving cable. At aprescribed point a stop XV is fixed in the line of motion of the clutch, and the projecting narrow end I of the wedge strikes the stop and the wedge is forced rearwardly into the case until the shoulder K on the wedge has passed inwardly beyond the bearing-iron C, releasing the cable and permitting it to run freely through the clutch. The stop I is located at such apoint as to loosen the wedge G in the clutch S at the point to which it is necessary for the clutch to travel in order to haul the shovel to the desired locality for dumping its load. This stop XV may be constructed in any convenient manner, and may be secured to any convenient fixture in the line of the travel of the cable F. In the drawings the stop shown is in the form of an arm in two parts, clamped by a bolt to a pipe-rail Y, secured to the frame E. The cable F runs through an eye in the outer end of the arm-stop. A wrenchhandle Y, fixed in the nut on the bolt W, is a convenient means for tightening the nut on the bolt and clamping the arm to the piperail Y. The rail Y is secured to the frame E conveniently by arms Z Z. One of the plates B, forming a side of the clutch S, is preferably constructed in two parts L L, located at a little distance apart centrally opposite the line of the cable F, the aperture 0r slot between the parts being sufficient for passing the cable laterally therethrough. A

plate M of proper form therefor is secured to the clutch over a considerable portion of the slot conveniently by being thrust at its front end under the nuts on bolts F and II, and its rear end being held by the bolt N. The nuts on bolts F and H do not turn against the plate M, but bear when turned down against other parts, the nut on bolt F being shown in Fig. 6 as provided with a flange projecting from its inner end about the bolt slightly longer than the thickness of the plate M and bearing against plate L, and bolt H being formed with a shoulder just outside of the plate M and a reduced part on which the nut turns against the shoulder, thus leaving the plate M free to be readily removed from beneath them. By this construction on removing the bolt N from the clutch the plate M can be removed, the wedge G can be drawn out rearwardly, and the clutch can be taken laterally from the cable.

This device is operated substantially as follows: By tilting the levers P the revolving driving-shaft L, through the friction-wheel R, is placed in frictional contact with the pulley D, and the cable F is thereby put in motion in the direction indicated by the arrows. The clutch 8 being at a distance from the stop 7 toward the right and the shovel U being at a distant point from which it is to be moved toward the door of the car, the clutch, by giving the rope T a little slack, automatically grips the cable F and is carried forward therewith, hauling the load attached thereto by the rope T until the clutch reaches the stop W, which is located at such point that the load being hauled by the rope T arrives at the place at which it is to be dumped at the same moment that the clutch reaches the stop. As the wedge G strikes the stop V it is forced rearwardly into the case of the clutch, and the grip of the clutch on the cable. is thereby released. The shovel being dumped is then carried by the attendant back to the place for reloading it, the pull on the draft-rope in the meantime causing the clutch to tilt down at the front end so that the iron C catches the shoulder K and holds the wedge at its rear loose position in the case, and permits the clutch to be drawn along on the cable rearwardly freely to the desired position for reloading the shovel. A little slack is then given to the rope T, and thereupon the weight of the rope tilts the front end of the ease up, releasing it from the shoulder K, and the wedge resting on the cable is by frictional contact therewith again carried forward into the position shown in Fig.6, gripping the cable to the block D and locking the clutch to the cable, to be carried forward by it with its load, as before described.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for unloading grain from cars, the combination, with an endless cable running on pulleys therefor adjacent IOC IIO

to a car to be unloaded, of a clutch supported movably thereon and through which the cable runs,a draft-rope secured to the clutch and arranged to be attached to a shovel for moving the grain, and mechanism whereby the .clutch is adapted to automatically engage the cable temporarily, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an endless cable carried on suitable mechanism, of a clutch supported on the cable, comprising .a case, a fixed cable-bearing block, movable cablebearing wedge opposite the bearing-block, and a fixed Wedge-resisting part arranged to receive the bearing of the wedge and hold it against the cable, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an endless cable carried on suitable mechanism, of a clutch supported on the cable, comprising a case, a cable-bearing block, a movable Wedge bearing against the cable opposite the block, a fixed wedge-resisting device, an adjustable stop for receiving the thrust of the Wedge, and means for connecting the clutch to a load to be moved, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an endless cable carried on suitable mechanism, of a clutch supported and traveling with and on the cable, consisting of a case, an adjustable bearing-block, a movable wedge having a shoulder, as K, a fixed wedge-resisting block arranged to engage the shoulder K, and a stop for receiving the thrust of the wedge, substantially as described.

5. In a clutch arranged to be used on an endless cable in a grain-shoveling device, a case having a longitudinal slot in one side adapted to receive the cable therethrough, a removable slot-covering plate, a movable and removable wedge, and a single bolt, as N, arranged to secure the slot-covering plate to and retain the wedge in the case, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALLAN G. MATHER.

Witnesses:

O. T. BENEDICT, ANNA V. FAUST. 

